


your elegant aberration

by queenofglass



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-31 11:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofglass/pseuds/queenofglass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daena the Defiant earns her name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	your elegant aberration

“I’m _High Queen_ of Westeros, and I order you to let me out!”

“I apologize to Your Grace, but the king has forbidden it,” the steward replies, a morning custom when Daena attempts to escape. Furious, she hurls a pitcher of wine at the door and curses.

“The Seven take your tongue,” Rhaena admonishes, her head bent over _The Seven-Pointed Star_.

“The Others take _you_ ,” Daena scowls, leaving the wine to puddle on the floor. “Although I’m sure you think seven years in captivity is a holy matter.”

“It’s holy because our brother deems it so,” her sister responds piously. “As a septon and a king, he knows best.”

 _She’s your sister and a low queen_ , Daena thinks. _A sleeping dragon who refuses to wake_.

“We’re bored, Rhaena,” Elaena murmurs, but at least _she_ has a marriage on the horizon. Daena rolls her eyes and returns to the balcony, watching the streets below.

Their holy brother imprisoned them seven namedays ago, upon his ascension to the throne. Baelor always had visions as a child, and claimed their mere _presence_ was a distraction for the faithful. Daena Targaryen is high queen in name only, for queens past had freedom _and_ influence.

Daena has neither.

Daena wants everything.

Irritated, she touches the gold dragon at her neck, circling it around her finger. Baelor has unswerving patience, but she has unswerving determination. She will escape, and soon.

An opportunity arises a year later, when their cousin Aegon and his wife visit the city. Her brother calls for a modest party, but their cousin was never known for his restraint. He brings boisterous friends to the capital, and it’s the liveliest atmosphere King’s Landing has seen in a long while.

While her sisters attempt to sleep through the noise, Daena slips out of their rooms, unnoticed by the sleeping guards. The pitcher of wine she left in the corridor served its purpose. She has bought herself a few hours of freedom, the first in eight years.

Her white silks would normally draw unwanted attention, but every courtier is drunk on wickedness, something her brother has attempted to stamp out. Daena shakes her head at his foolishness. Not every man has the king’s religious zeal, and will disregard it for wine and women at the first opportunity.

Baelor will undoubtedly be praying for the souls of his court rather than enjoying the party. True enough, she finds Aegon in the center of the celebration, with his unhappy wife beside him. When Naerys excuses herself for the evening, Daena takes her seat.

“Cousin!” Aegon booms. “I thought the king had you collared.”

Daena grins. “Your festivities allowed me an escape. I must find a way to thank you.”

His downward glance is longer than appropriate, but she doesn’t mind. “I’m sure I’ll think of something. Is it true you wear white to shame him?”

“Yes, though it isn’t working.”

“There are other ways to shame a man.”

Daena matches her cousin’s smirk. “I’ll wait in your chambers.”

She knows that Aegon believes he seduced _her_ , but it’s actually the other way around. Though she hasn’t be allowed near a bow and quiver for years, she is still a predator. Her cousin is a fool, led by his cock and nothing else, like most men. But he’ll serve a greater purpose; he’ll give her what she’s been denied for nearly ten years.

At twenty-four, Daena believes herself an old maid. Aegon has to be reminded to be gentle the first time, and he is, with the promise of further meetings. Daena dresses in servants’ garb to move about the castle, and finds that pleasure equal to the one she finds in bed. They fuck in his chambers, corridors, or beside the dragon skulls. Once, they dared to do so on the Iron Throne. Daena likes to believe they conceived their son there.

Aegon and his entourage leave the city three months after they arrived. Daena is sad to see her cousin leave, though she misses the freedom and fucking more than she misses him.

When her belly starts to swell, Rhaena tells their brother. The king summons her to the throne room after her son is born.

“You _will_ tell me the father’s identity,” Baelor says, but Daena can’t take him seriously. He’s sitting in the very spot where she gave him horns and fucked their cousin.

“The child is mine,” she declares, holding the boy to her chest. “His father came to my bed and gave me a son, something Your Grace refused to do.”

To anger her brother further, Daena wears bright colors. The innocent white silks he loved are long gone. She names her boy Daemon, for the father she idolized. The court begins to call her “Daena the Defiant” for refusing the king’s will.

Baelor dies slowly, to the impatience of his family. Though the maesters say it was because of his extreme fasting, the courtiers whisper that the Hand of the King is responsible. Viserys had a reputation for using poison, a craven’s weapon. However, only a year into his reign, he is disposed of by his niece and his son is crowned king.

Daena raises her child alone, beyond the walls of the Red Keep. She ensures him an education worthy of a prince, and when he’s twelve, the king acknowledges him as his bastard son.

Daemon becomes known as Daemon Blackfyre, for the ancient sword given to him by his father, Aegon, Fourth of His Name.

When her son raises his banners in rebellion, Daena knows how she’ll be remembered and smiles.

 _Daena the Defiant, Mother of the Black Dragon_.


End file.
